The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation is putting out a cry for help following cuts to programs.
As the Greater Essex County District School Board faces significant budget cuts due to a funding shortfall from the provincial government a number of programs will be impacted.
Cuts will impact the Special Education Programming, Board-level staff, Professional Student Services, and International Baccalaureate (IB) Programs.
On Tuesday, the board will present its Financial Recovery Plan, which includes reductions in the Reaching Individual Success and Excellence (RISE) program, occasional staff, and various professional services as the board faces a deficit of $6.3-million.
Erin Roy, local President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, says there is a lot of concern with cutting services to children.
"The fact that we're not getting funded in the way that we are used to means that this is just kind of the beginning of the cuts. It's going to keep coming. They're going to continue to cut programming to students, and it's going to make the system more difficult to manage. In my view, I think we're just a little bit behind where health care is - where the system is crumbling because it's not being funded in the way that it has been in the past."
She says the funding isn't there anymore.
"So it's $1,500 per student, if you adjust for inflation, less today than it was in 2018. So, 36,000 students times $1,500 and we all know what's happened on the price of everything has gone up, so the fact that board is in a deficit shouldn't be a shock to anyone."
Roy says students will be impacted if the board eliminates these crucial programs.
"Talking about the International Baccalaureate program that they're recommending they don't fund any longer. They've put in lots of funding into that program to make it what it is. When we talk about our psychologists, our social workers, speech and language pathologists, those are services that parents simply can't afford to get in the community, and so they rely on the school system for it and those are being cut because it's not being funded."
She says she understands that the Board of Trustees are hesitant to go against the recommendation because they would be taken over by the province.
She says she would rather have the Ministry of Education come in and be forced to make cuts to front-line services and programs rather than the trustees.
The Board of Trustees will meet at 6 p.m.